42. On the following day he keeps the whole army within the fosse and, as material for earthworks could only be procured at a distance, he arranges a similar method of work for the present and assigns the fortifying of each side of the camp to a single legion, ordering fosses of a similar size to the first to be constructed; the rest of the legions he draws up under arms lightly equipped over against the enemy. Afranius and Petreius, with the object of causing alarm and so impeding the work, draw out their forces towards the lower spurs of the hill and harass our men. Caesar, however, does not on that account interrupt his work, trusting in the protection of the three legions and the defensive nature of the fosse. The enemy, without staying long or advancing further from the bottom of the hill, withdraw their forces into camp. On the third clay Caesar strengthens his camp with a rampart and orders the rest of the cohorts which he had left in his previous camp, and their baggage, to be brought over to him.
42. Postero die omnem exercitum intra fossam continet et, quod longius erat agger petendus, in praesentia similem rationem operis instituit singulaque latera castrorum singulis attribuit legionibus munienda fossasque ad eandem magnitudinem perfici iubet; reliquas legiones in armis expeditas contra hostem constituit. Afranius Petreiusque terrendi causa atque operis impedienda copias suas ad infimas montis radices producunt et proelio lacessunt, neque idcirco Caesar opus intermittit confisus praesidio legionum trium et munitione fossae. Illi non diu commorati nec longius ab infimo colle progressi copias, in castra reducunt. Tertio die Caesar vallo castra communit; reliquas cohortes, quas in superioribus castris reliquerat, impedimentaque ad se traduci iubet.
43. Between the town of Ilerda and the nearest hill on which Petreius and Afranius were encamped was a plain about three hundred paces in width, and in about the middle of this space was a rather high mound. Caesar was confident that if he occupied and fortified this he would cut off his adversaries from the town and the bridge and from all the stores which they had brought into the town. In this hope he leads out of the camp three legions, and having drawn up the line in a suitable position, he orders a picked advance guard from one legion to charge and occupy the mound. This movement being quickly discovered, the cohorts of Afranius which were stationed in front of the camp are sent by a shorter route to occupy the same position. A battle is fought, and, as the Afranians had reached the mound first, our men are driven back and, fresh supports being sent up, are compelled to turn and retreat to the standards of the legions.
43. Erat inter oppidum Ilerdam et proximum collem, ubi castra Petreius atque Afranius habebant, planities circiter passuum CCC, atque in hoc fere medio spatio tumulus erat paulo editior; quem si occupavisset Caesar et communisset, ab oppido et ponte et commeatu omni, quem in oppidum contulerant, se interclusurum adversarios confidebat. Hoc sperans legiones III ex castris educit acieque in locis idoneis instructa unius legionis antesignanos procurrere atque eum tumulum occupare iubet. Qua re cognita celeriter quae in statione pro castris erant Afranii cohortes breviore itinere ad eundem occupandum locum mittuntur. Contenditur proelio, et quod prius in tumulum Afraniani venerant, nostri repelluntur atque aliis submissis subsidiis terga vertere seque ad signa legionum recipere coguntur.
44. The method of fighting adopted by the enemy’s troops was to charge at first at full speed, boldly seize a position, take no particular trouble to preserve their ranks, but fight singly and in loose order; if they were hard pressed they did not consider it a disgrace to retire and quit their position, for, waging a continuous warfare against the Lusitanians and other barbarous tribes, they had become used to a barbarous kind of fighting, as it usually happens that when troops have spent a long time in any district they are greatly influenced by the methods of the country. It was this system that now threw our men into confusion, unaccustomed as they were to this kind of fighting; for as the enemy kept charging singly they thought that they were being surrounded on their exposed flank. As for themselves, they had judged it right to keep their ranks and not to desert their standards nor to give up without grave cause the position they had taken. And so when the vanguard was thrown into confusion the legion posted on that wing could not stand its ground and withdrew to the nearest hill.
44. Genus erat pugnae militum illorum, ut magno impetu primo procurrerent, audacter locum caperent, ordines suos non magnopere servarent, rari i dispersique pugnarent; si premerentur, pedem referre et loco excedere non turpe existimarent cum ' Lusitanis reliquisque barbaris barbaro genere quodam pugnae assuefacti; quod fere fit, quibus quisque I in locis miles inveteraverit, ut multum earum regionum consuetudine moveatur. Haec tum ratio nostros perturbavit insuetos huius generis pugnae: circumiri enim sese ab aperto latere procurrentibus singulis arbitrabantur; ipsi autem suos ordines servare neque ab signis discedere neque sine gravi causa eum locum, quem ceperant, dimitti censuerant oportere. Itaque perturbatus antesignanis legio, quae in eo cornu constiterat, locum non tenuit atque in proximum collem sese recepit.
45. Finding nearly the whole of his line panic-stricken— an event as unusual as it was unexpected—Caesar exhorts his men and leads the Ninth Legion to their support. He checks the foe who are pursuing our men with insolent daring, and compels them again to turn and retreat to the town of Ilerda and halt beneath the walls. But the men of the Ninth Legion, carried away by zeal in their desire to repair the loss received, rashly pursuing the flying foe too far, get into unfavourable ground and approach close under the hill on which the town of Ilerda was situated. When our men wished to retreat from this position, the enemy in turn kept pressing them hard from the higher ground. The place was precipitous with a steep descent on either side, and extended only so far in width as just to give room for three cohorts drawn up in battle array, so that supports could not be sent up on the flanks nor could cavalry be of any use if the men were in difficulties. But on the side of the town sloping ground with a slight descent stretched to the length of about four hundred paces. In this direction our men stood at bay, since, carried forward by their zeal, they had recklessly advanced thus far. The fighting took place in this spot, which was unfavourable both from its confined limits and because they had halted just under the very spurs of the mountain, so that no missile failed to reach them. Nevertheless they strove with valour and endurance and sustained every description of wound. The forces of the foe were increasing and cohorts were continually being sent up to them from the camp through the town so that the unexhausted were always taking the place of the exhausted. Caesar was obliged to adopt the same course of withdrawing the exhausted and sending up supporting cohorts to the same place.
45. Caesar paene omni acie perterrita, quod praeter opinionem consuetudinemque acciderat, cohortatus suos legionem nonam subsidio ducit; hostem insolenter atque acriter nostros insequentem supprimit rursusque terga vertere seque ad oppidum Ilerdam recipere et sub muro consistere cogit. Sed nonae legionis milites elati studio, dum sarcire acceptum detrimentum volunt, temere insecuti longius fugientes in locum iniquum progrediuntur et sub montem, in quo erat oppidum positum Ilerdam succedunt. Hinc se recipere cum vellent, rursus illi ex loco superiore nostros premebant. Praeruptus locus erat utraque ex parte derectus ac tantum in latitudinem patebat, ut tres instructae cohortes eum locum explerent, ut neque subsidia ab lateribus submitti neque equite laborantibus usui esse possent. Ab oppido autem declivis locus tenui fastigio vergebat in longitudinem passuum circiter CCCC. Hac nostris erat receptus, quod eo incitati studio inconsultius processerant; hoc pugnabatur loco, et propter angustias iniquo et quod sub ipsis radicibus montis constiterant, ut nullum frustra telum in eos mitteretur. Tamen virtute et patientia nitebantur atque omnia vulnera sustinebant. Augebatur illis copia, atque ex castris cohortes per oppidum crebro submittebantur, ut integri defessis succederent. Hoc idem Caesar facere cogebatur, ut submissis in eundem locum cohortibus de fessos reciperet.
46. When they had fought in this way continuously for five hours, and our men were being grievously harassed by superior numbers, having spent all their missiles, they draw their swords and, breasting the hill, charge the cohorts, and after laying a few low, they force the rest to retreat. When the cohorts were thus pushed close up to the wall, and to some extent driven by terror to enter the town, an easy withdrawal was allowed our men. Our cavalry, however, on each flank, though it had been stationed on low-lying ground at the foot of the cliff, yet forces its way with the utmost valour to the ridge, and, riding between the two lines of battle, allows our men a more convenient and safer withdrawal. Thus the contest was waged with varying fortune. At the first attack about seventy of our men fell, among them Q. Fulginius, a principal centurion of the Fourteenth Legion, who by his remarkable valour had risen to that post from the lower rank of centurions, and more than six hundred are wounded. Among the Afranians, T. Caecilius, a centurion of the first company, is slain, and besides him four centurions and more than two hundred men.
46. Hoc cum esset modo pugnatum continenter horis quinque nostrique gravius a multitudine premerentur, consumptis omnibus telis gladiis destrictis impetum adversus montem in cohortes faciunt, paucisque deiectis reliquos sese convertere cogunt. Submotis sub murum cohortibus ac nonnullam partem propter terrorem in oppidum compulsis facilis est nostris receptus datus. Equitatus autem noster ab utroque latere, etsi deiectis atque inferioribus locis constiterat, tamen summa in iugum virtute connititur atque inter duas acies perequitans commodiorem ac tutiorem nostris receptum dat. Ita vario certamine pugnatum est. Nostri in primo congressu circiter LXX ceciderunt, in his Q. Fulginius ex primo hastato legionis XIIII, qui propter eximiam virtutem ex inferioribus ordinibus in eum locum pervenerat; vulnerantur amplius DC. Ex Afranianis interficiuntur T. Caecilius, primi pili centurio, et praeter eum centuriones mi, milites amplius CC.
47. But the commonly received view of the day’s events was that each side thought it had come off superior; the Afranians because, though they were generally deemed inferior, they had stood their ground so long in close combat and borne the assault of our men, and at the outset held the position and the mound which had been the object of the battle, and at the first encounter had compelled our men to retreat; our troops, on the other hand, claimed the victory because, engaging the foe on unfavourable ground and with unequal number, they had sustained the fight for five hours, had mounted the hill with drawn swords, had compelled their adversaries to retreat from a higher position, and had driven them into the town. The enemy fortified the hill, for possession of which they had fought, with great works, and placed a garrison on it.
47. Sed haec eius diei praefertur opinio, ut se utrique superiores discessisse existimarent: Afraniani, quod, cum esse omnium iudicio inferiores viderentur, comminus tum diu stetissent et nostrorum impetum sustinuissent et initio locum tumulumque tenuissent, quae causa pugnandi fuerat, et nostros primo congressu terga vertere coegissent; nostri autem, quod iniquo loco atque impari congressi numero quinque horis proelium sustinuissent, quod montem gladiis destrictis ascendissent, quod ex loco superiore terga vertere adversarios coegissent atque in oppidum compulissent. Illi eum tumulum, pro quo pugnatum est, magnis operibus munierunt praesidiumque ibi posuerunt.
48. There also happened an unforeseen disaster within two days of these occurrences. A storm of such intensity springs up that it was agreed that there had never been a greater rainfall in that district. On this occasion it washed down the snow from all the mountains, overtopped the banks of the river, and in one day broke down both the bridges which G. Fabius had made. This caused serious difficulties to Caesar’s army. For the camp being situated, as has been explained above, between the two rivers Sicoris and Cinga, thirty miles apart, neither of these could be crossed, and they were all necessarily confined in this narrow space. The states which had entered into friendly relations with Caesar could not supply provisions, nor could those who had travelled some distance for forage return, being cut off by the rivers, nor could the huge supplies which were on their way from Italy and Gaul reach the camp. It was, moreover, the most difficult season of the year, when there was no corn in the winter stores and the crops were not far from being ripe, while the communities were exhausted because Afranius had conveyed nearly all the corn to Ilerda before Caesar’s arrival, and whatever there was left Caesar had consumed during the previous days; and the cattle which could have served as a second reserve against want had been removed to a distance by the neighbouring states because of the war. The men who went out to collect fodder or corn were followed by light-armed Lusitanians and skirmishers from hither Spain acquainted with the district; and for them it was easy to swim across the rivers, it being their general custom never to join the main army without bladders.
48. Accidit etiam repentinum incommodum biduo, quo haec gesta sunt. Tanta enim tempestas cooritur, ut numquam illis locis maiores aquas fuisse constaret. Tum autem ex omnibus montibus nives proluit ac summas ripas fluminis superavit pontesque ambo, (pios C. Fabius fecerat, uno die interrupit. Quae res magnas difficultates exercitui Caesaris attulit. Castra I enim, ut supra demonstratum est, cum essent inter flumina duo, Sicorim et Cingam, spatio milium XXX, neutrum horum transiri poterat, necessarioque omnes his angustiis confitebantur. Neque civitates, quae ad Caesaris amicitiam accesserant, frumentum supportare, neque ei, qui pabulatum longius progressi erant, interclusi fluminibus reverti neque maximi commeatus, qui ex Italia Galliaque veniebant, in castra pervenire poterant. Tempus erat autem difficillimum, quo neque frumenta in hibernis erant neque multum a maturitate aberant; ac civitates exinanitae, quod Afranius paene omne frumentum ante Caesaris adventum Ilerdam convexerat, reliqui si quid fuerat, Caesar superioribus diebus consumpserat; pecora, quod secundum poterat esse inopiae subsidium, propter bellum finitimae civitates longius removerant. Qui erant pabulandi aut frumentandi causa progressi, hos levis armaturae Lusitani peritique earum regionum cetrati citerioris Hispaniae consectabantur; quibus erat proclive tranare flumen, quod consuetudo eorum omnium est, ut sine utribus ad exercitum non eant.
49. But the army of Afranius had abundance of provisions of every kind. Much corn had been provided and collected previously, much was being brought together from every province, and there was a great supply of fodder. The bridge at Ilerda and the untouched districts across the river, which Caesar was quite unable to approach, gave opportunities for all these measures without any risk.
49. At exercitus Afranii omnium rerum abundabat copia. Multum erat frumentum provisum et convectum superioribus temporibus, multum ex omni provincia comportabatur; magna copia pabuli suppetebat. Harum omnium rerum facultates sine ullo periculo pons Ilerdae praebebat et loca trans flumen integra, quo omnino Caesar adire non poterat.
50. The above-mentioned floods lasted several days. Caesar made an attempt to repair the bridges, but the strength of the current did not allow it, nor did the cohorts of the enemy, distributed along the bank, suffer the work to be completed. It was easy for them to prevent it from the character of the river itself and the excessive flood, and also because from all along the banks missiles were being discharged at one narrow spot, and so it was difficult, owing to the extreme rapidity of the current, at once to carry on the work and avoid the missiles.
50. Hae permanserunt aquae dies complures. Conatus est Caesar reficere pontes; sed nec magnitudo fluminis permittebat, neque ad ripam dispositae cohortes adversariorum perfici patiebantur. Quod illis prohibere erat facile cum ipsius fluminis natura atque aquae magnitudine, tum quod ex totis ripis in unum atque angustum locum tela iaciebantur; atque erat difficile eodem tempore rapidissimo flumine opera perficere et tela vitare.
51. Word is brought to Afranius that the great supplies on their way to Caesar are stopped by the stream. There had come thither archers from the Ruteni and horsemen from Gaul with a number of wagons and heavy baggage, after the Gallic custom. There were, moreover, about six thousand men of every class with their slaves and children, but there was no method, no fixed authority, each following his own devices, and all journeying without fear, adopting the licence of earlier days and journeys. There were a number of honourable youths, sons of senators or of the equestrian order; there were deputations from the states; there were envoys from Caesar. All these were checked by the rivers. To crush them Afranius sets forth at night with all his cavalry and three legions, and sending his horsemen on in front attacks them off their guard. Nevertheless the Gallic horsemen quickly rally and join battle. Though few, they stood their ground against a great number of the enemy, so long as an encounter on equal conditions was possible; but when the standards of the legions began to approach, after the loss of a few men, they withdraw to the nearest hills. This period of the battle was of great moment for the safety of our men, for by getting free room they withdrew to higher ground. On that day about two hundred archers were lost, a few horsemen, and a small number of camp followers and beasts of burden.
51. Nuntiatur Afranio magnos commeatus, qui iter habebant ad Caesarem, ad flumen constitisse. Venerant eo sagittarii ex Rutenis, equites ex Gallia cum multis carris magnisque impedimentis, ut fert Gallica consuetudo. Erant praeterea cuiusque generis hominum milia circiter vi cum servis liberisque; sed nullus ordo, nullum imperium certum, cum suo quisque consilio uteretur atque omnes sine timore iter facerent usi superiorum temporum atque itinerum licentia. Erant complures honesti adulescentes, senatorum filii et ordinis equestris; erant legationes civitatum; erant legati Caesaris. Hos omnes flumina continebant. Ad hos opprimendos eum omni equitatu tribusque legionibus Afranius de nocte proficiscitur imprudentesque ante missis equitibus aggreditur. Celeriter sese tamen Galli equites expediunt proeliumque committunt. Ei, dum pari certamine res geri potuit, magnum hostium numerum pauci sustinuere; sed ubi signa legionum appropinquare! coeperunt, paucis amissis sese in proximos montes conferunt. Hoc pugnae tempus magnum attulit nostris ad salutem momentum; nacti enim spatium se in loca superiora receperunt. Desiderati sunt eo die sagittarii circiter CC, equites pauci, calonum atque impedimentorum non magnus numerus.
52. Nevertheless in all these circumstances the price of provisions rose, a difficulty which is wont to increase, not merely from the immediate dearth, but also from fear for the future. Already the price of corn had risen to fifty denarii a peck, and the lack of it had diminished the strength of the soldiery and their troubles were increasing daily. So completely had the situation been reversed in a few days, and such had been the shifting of the balance of fortune, that our men were being oppressed by a serious deficiency of necessaries, while the enemy had abundance of everything and were in an acknowledged position of superiority. The supply of corn being too small, Caesar began to requisition cattle from the states which had gone over to his side, sent sutlers to the more distant communities, and himself endeavoured by all possible resources to meet the present want.
52. His tamen omnibus annona crevit; quae feri res non solum inopia praesentis, sed etiam futuri temporis timore ingravescere consuevit. Iamque ad denarios L in singulos modios annona pervenerat, et militum vires inopia frumenti deminuerat, atque incommoda in dies augebantur; et tam paucis diebus magna erat facta rerum commutatio ac se fortuna inclinaverat, ut nostri magna inopia necessariarum rerum conflictarentur, illi omnibus abundarent rebus superioresque haberentur. Caesar eis civitatibus, quae ad eius amicitiam accesserant, quod minor erat frumenti copia, pecus imperabat; calones ad longinquiores civitates dimittebat; ipse praesentem inopiam quibus poterat subsidiis tutabatur.
53. Afranius and Petreius and their friends wrote to their partisans at Rome an amplified and exaggerated account of these events. Rumour added much, so that the war seemed almost finished. When these letters and messages were conveyed to Rome great crowds thronged the house of Afranius and hearty congratulations were offered. Many set out from Italy for Gn. Pompeius, some that they might show themselves the first to bring him such news, others that they might not appear to have waited for the issue of the war and to have been the last of all to come.
53. Haec Afranius Petreiusque et eorum amici pleniora etiam atque uberiora Romam ad suos perscribebant; multa rumor affingebat, ut paene bellum confectum videretur. Quibus litteris nuntiisque Romam perlatis magni domum concursus ad Afranium magnaeque gratulationes fiebant; multi ex Italia ad Cn. Pompeium proficiscebantur, alii, ut principes talem nuntium attulisse, alii ne eventum belli exspectasse aut exi omnibus novissimi venisse viderentur.
54. As things were reduced to such a strait and all the roads were blocked by the Afranian soldiers and horsemen and the bridges could not be completed, Caesar orders his men to build ships of the kind that his experience in Britain in previous years had taught him to make. The keels and the first ribs were made of light timber, the rest of the hull was wattled and covered with hides. These when finished he conveys by night on coupled wagons to a distance of twenty-two miles from the camp and transports his men in them across the river and occupies unobserved the hill adjoining the bank. This he fortifies hastily before the foe should find it out. Hither he afterwards transfers a legion and sets about making a bridge from either side, finishing it in two clays. Thus he recovers in safety the stores and the men who had gone out on the foraging expedition, and begins to settle the difficulties of his food supply.
54. Cum in his angustiis res esset, atque omnes viae ab Afranianis militibus equitibusque obsiderentur, nec pontes perfici possent, imperat militibus Caesar, ut naves faciant, cuius generis eum superioribus annis usus Britanniae docuerat. Carinae ac prima statumina alvei materia fiebant; reliquum corpus navium viminibus contextum coriis integebatur. Has perfectas carris iunctis devenit noctu milia passuum a castris XXII militesque his navibus flumen transportat continentemque ripae collem improviso occupat. Hunc celeriter, priusquam ab adversariis sentiatur, communit. Huc legionem postea traicit atque ex utraque parte pontem instituit, biduo perficit. Ita commeatus et qui frumenti causa processerant tuto ad se recipit et rem frumentariam expedire incipit.
55. On the same day he threw a great part of his cavalry across the river, who, attacking the foragers when off their guard and scattered about without any fear of danger, cut off a great number of men and beasts; and when some light-armed cohorts had been sent in support of the foe they skilfully distribute themselves into two divisions, some to guard the booty, others to resist and repel aggressors; and one cohort, which had rashly advanced from the main body before the others, they cut off from the rest and surround it and put it to the sword, and return to the camp by the same bridge, unharmed, with much booty.
55. Eodem die equitum magnam partem flumen traiecit. Qui inopinantes pabulatores et sine ullo dissipatos timore aggressi magnum numerum iumentorum atque hominum intercipiunt cohortibusque cetratis subsidio missis scienter in duas partes sese distribuunt, alii ut praedae praesidio sint, alii ut venientibus resistant atque eos propellant, unamque cohortem, quae temere ante ceteras extra aciem procurrerat, seclusam ab reliquis circumveniunt atque interficiunt incolumesque eum magna praeda eodem ponte in castra revertuntur.
56. While this is going on at Ilerda the Massilians, following the advice of L. Domitius, equip seventeen ships of war, of which eleven were decked. To these they add many smaller vessels, so that our fleet may be terrified by the mere multitude. On board they put a great number of archers and of the Albici, about whom I have explained before, and stimulate them by prizes and promises. Domitius demands special ships for himself, and mans them with farmers and herdsmen whom he had brought with him. Their fleet thus fully equipped, they advance with great confidence against our ships, of which D. Brutus was in command. These ships were stationed by the island which lies over against Massilia.
56. Dum haec ad Ilerdam geruntur, Massilienses usi L. Domitii consilio naves longas expediunt numero, XVII, quarum erant XI tectae. Multa huc minora navigia addunt, ut ipsa multitudine nostra classis, teneatur. Magnum numerum sagittariorum, magnum Albicorum, de quibus supra demonstratum est, imponunt atque hos praemiis pollicitationibusque incitant. Certas sibi deposcit naves Domitius atque has colonis pastoribusque, quos secum adduxerat, complet. Sic omnibus rebus instructa classe magna fiducia ad nostras naves procedunt, quibus praeerat D. Brutus. Hae ad insulam, quae est contra Massiliam, stationes obtinebant.
57. Brutus was far inferior in number of ships, but Caesar had assigned to his fleet the bravest men, front-line men and centurions, picked from all the legions, who had demanded this charge for themselves. They had prepared iron claws and grapplings and had furnished themselves with a great number of javelins, looped darts, and other weapons. So, having learnt of the arrival of the enemy, they bring their ships out of port and join battle with the Massilians. The fight was maintained with the utmost bravery and impetuosity on both sides, nor Sid the Albici, rough mountaineers trained in arms, fall far below our men in valour, and having lately come from the Massilians, they kept in mind their recent promises, while the herdsmen of Domitius, stimulated by the hope of liberty, were eager to display their zeal before their master’s eyes.
57. Erat multo inferior numero navium Brutus; sed electos ex omnibus legionibus fortissimos viros, antesignanos, centuriones, Caesar ei classi attribuerat, qui sibi id muneris depoposcerant. Hi manus ferreas atque harpagones paraverant magnoque numero pilorum, tragularum reliquorumque telorum se instruxerant. Ita cognito hostium adventu suas naves ex portu educunt, cum Massiliensibus confligunt. Pugnatum est utrimque fortissime atque acerrime; neque multum Albici nostris virtute cedebant, homines asperi et montani, exercitati in armis; atque hi modo digressi a Massiliensibus recentem eorum pollicitationem animis continebant, pastoresque Domitii spe libertatis excitati sub oculis domini suam probare operam studebant.
58. The Massilians themselves, trusting in the speed of; heir ships and the skill of their pilots, eluded our men and parried their attacks, and so long as they were free to make use of a wider space they extended their line to some distance and strove to surround our men, or to attack single ships with several, or to run by them and if possible sweep off their oars. When they were forced to come to close quarters, instead of the skill and devices of pilots they had recourse to the valour of mountaineers. Our men had not only lo employ less well-trained rowers and less skilled pilots who had suddenly been taken out of merchant-ships, not yet knowing even the names of the various tackle, but were also retarded by the slowness and heaviness of their ships. For, having been made in a hurry of unseasoned timber, they did riot display the same handiness in respect of speed. And so, provided that an opportunity of fighting hand to hand were given them, with quiet courage they confronted two ships with one, and throwing aboard the iron claw and holding each ship fast, they fought on opposite sides of their vessel and so boarded the enemy’s ships; and after slaying a large number of the Albici and the herdsmen they sink some of the ships, take others with their crews, and drive the rest into port. On that day nine ships of the Massiliaus are lost, including those that were captured.
58. Ipsi Massilienses et celeritate navium et scientia gubernatorum confisi nostros eludebant impetusque eorum excipiebant et, quoad licebat latiore uti spatio, producta longius acie circumvenire nostros aut pluribus navibus adoriri singulas aut remos transi currentes detergere, si possent, contendebant; cur propius erat necessario ventum, ab scientia gubernatorum atque artificiis ad virtutem montanorum confugiebant. Nostri cum minus exercitatis remigibus minusque peritis gubernatoribus utebantur, qui repente ex onerariis navibus erant producti neque dum etiam vocabulis armamentorum cognitis, tum etiam tarditate et gravitate navium impediebantur; factae enim subito ex humida materia non eundem usum celeritatis habebant. Itaque, dum locus comminus pugnandi daretur, aequo animo singulas binis navibus obiciebant atque iniecta manu ferrea et retenta utraque nave diversi pugnabant atque in hostium naves transcendebant et magno numero Albicorum et pastorum interfecto partem navium deprimunt, nonnullas cum hominibus capiunt, reliquas in portum compellunt. Eo die naves Massiliensium cum eis, quae sunt captae, intereunt vini.
59. This news is first brought to Caesar at Ilerda; at once on the completion of the bridge there is a rapid change of fortune. The enemy, terror-struck by the bravery of the cavalry, now roamed with less freedom and audacity; at one time, staying their advance at no great distance from the camp, in order to ensure a speedy retreat, they foraged within narrower limits; at another, taking a wider circuit, they tried to avoid the outposts and cavalry pickets, or, on sustaining some loss or catching sight of the cavalry at a distance, they broke off their march, flung away their packs, and fled. Finally, they made up their mind to stay action for several days and, contrary to the general custom, to forage by night.
59. Hoc primum Caesari ad Ilerdam nuntiatur; simul perfecto ponte celeriter fortuna mutatur. Illi perterriti virtute equitum minus libere, minus audacter vagabantur, alias non longo a castris progressi spatio, ut celerem receptum haberent, angustius pabulabantur, alias longiore circuitu custodias stationesque equitum vitabant, aut aliquo accepto detrimento aut procul equitatu viso ex medio itinere proiectis sarcinis fugiebant. Postremo et plures intermittere dies et praeter consuetudinem omnium noctu constituerant pabulari.
60. Meanwhile the inhabitants of Osca, and those of Calagurris who were politically associated with them, send envoys to him and promise to do his bidding. These are followed by the people of Tarraco, the Iacetani, the Ausetani, and a few days afterwards the Illurgavonenses, who border on the River Ebro. He begs all of these to assist him with corn. They promise to do so and, collecting all the pack-horses available, bring it into camp. A cohort of the Illurgavonenses also goes over to him on ascertaining the intention of their state and transfers its colours from its quarters. A great change of fortune rapidly follows. The bridge being completed, five important states brought over to his side, the corn supply made easy, the rumours about the auxiliaries of the legions which were said to be coming with Pompeius through Mauritania being suppressed, a number of more distant communities desert Afranius and take the side of Caesar.
60. Interim Oscenses et Calagurritani, qui erant Oscensibus contributi, mittunt ad eum legatos seseque imperata facturos pollicentur. Hos Tarraconenses et Iacetani et Ausetani et paucis post diebus Illurgavonenses, qui flumen Hiberum attingunt, insequuntur Petit ab his omnibus, ut se frumento iuvent. Pollicentur atque omnibus undique conquisitis iumentis in castra deportant. Transit etiam cohors Illurgavonensis ad cum cognito civitatis consilio et signa ex statione transfert. Magna celeriter commutatio rerum. Perfecto ponte, magnis quinque civitatibus ad amicitiam adiunctis, expedita re frumentaria, exstinctis rumoribus de auxiliis legionum, quae cum Pompeio per Mauritaniam venire dicebantur, multae longinquiores civitates ab Afranio desciscunt et Caesaris amicitiam sequuntur.
61. When the spirits of his adversaries were cowed by these events, Caesar, to prevent the need of always sending the cavalry over the bridge by a long circuitous route, found a suitable spot and decided to construct several ditches thirty feet wide, whereby he might divert some part of the Sicoris and make a ford in the river. When these were nearly completed Afranius and Petreius fall into great alarm lest they should be cut off altogether from collecting forage and fodder, as Caesar was particularly strong in cavalry. And so they determine to quit these districts and to transfer the war to Celtiberia. This design was also favoured by the fact that of the two different classes of states, those which in the earlier war had taken the side of Sertorius and had been conquered feared the name and authority of the absent Pompeius, and those which had remained loyal, having received great kindnesses, were devoted to him, while the name of Caesar was only dimly known among the barbarians. In this district they were expecting to find large reinforcements of cavalry and auxiliaries, and were proposing to prolong the war into the winter in a place of their own choosing. Having formed this plan, they order ships to be sought for along the whole course of the Ebro and to be brought to Octogesa. This town was situated on the Ebro, and was thirty miles from the camp. They order a bridge to be made at this part of the river by coupling ships together and bring two legions over the Sicoris. A camp is entrenched with a rampart twelve feet high.
61. Quibus rebus perterritis animis adversariorum Caesar, ne semper magno circuitu per pontem equitatus esset mittendus, nactus idoneum locum fossas pedum XXX in latitudinem complures facere instituit, quibus partem aliquam Sicoris averteret vadumque in eo flumine efficeret. His paene effectis magnum in timorem Afranius Petrei usque perveniunt, ne omnino frumento pabuloque intercluderentur, quod multum Caesar equitatu valebat. Itaque constituunt illis locis excedere et in Celtiberiam bellum transferre. Huic consilio suffragabatur etiam illa res, quod ex duobus contrariis generibus, quae superiore bello cum Sertorio steterant civitates, victae nomen atque imperium absentis Pompei timebant, quae in amicitia manserant, magnis affectae beneficiis eum diligebant; Caesaris autem erat in barbaris nomen obscurius. Hic magnos equitatus magnaque auxilia exspectabant et suis locis bellum in hiemem ducere cogitabant. Hoc inito consilio toto flumine Hibero naves conquiri et Octogesam adduci iubent. Id erat oppidum positum ad Hiberum miliaque passuum a castris aberat XXX. Ad eum locum fluminis navibus iunctis pontem imperant fieri legionesque duas flumen Sicorim traducunt, castraque muniunt vallo pedum XII.
62. When this was ascertained by means of scouts, Caesar, continuing day and night his task of diverting the stream by the utmost efforts of his soldiery, had so far advanced operations that the horsemen were able to cross the river, and ventured to do so, though the feat was laborious and difficult; while the foot-soldiers had only their shoulders and the upper part of their bodies above the surface, and were impeded in crossing both by the depth of the water and also by the rapidity of the current. Nevertheless about one and the same time the bridge over the Ebro was announced to be nearly finished and a ford was being found in the Sicoris.
62. Qua re per exploratores cognita summo labore militum Caesar continuato diem noctemque opere in flumine avertendo huc iam rem deduxerat, ut equites, etsi difficulter atque aegre fiebat, possent tamen atque auderent flumen transire, pedites vero tantummodo umeris ac summo pectore exstarent et cum altitudine aquae tum etiam rapiditate fluminis ad transeundum impedirentur. Sed tamen eodem fere tempore pons in Hibero prope effectus nuntiabatur, et in Sicori vadum reperiebatur.
63. Now, however, the enemy thought it the more necessary that their march should be hastened. So, leaving two auxiliary cohorts to garrison Ilerda, they cross the Sicoris in full force and join camp with the two legions which they had led across on a previous day. The only course left for Caesar was to annoy and harass the enemy’s line of march with his cavalry; for his own bridge involved a wide circuit, so that the enemy could reach the Ebro by a much shorter route. He sends horsemen who cross the river and, although Petreius and Afranius had moved camp about the third watch, suddenly show themselves in the rear of the column and begin to delay them and impede their march by pouring a great number of men around their flanks.
63. Iam vero eo magis illi maturandum iter existimabant. Itaque duabus auxiliaribus cohortibus Ilerdae praesidio relictis omnibus copiis Sicorim transeunt et cum duabus legionibus, quas superioribus diebus traduxerant, castra coniungunt. Relinquebatur Caesari nihil, nisi uti equitatu agmen adversariorum male haberet et carperet. Pons enim ipsius magnum circuitum habebat, ut multo breviore itinere illi ad Hiberum pervenire possent. Equites ab eo missi I flumen transeunt et, cum de tertia vigilia Petreius atque Afranius castra movissent, repente sese ad I novissimum agmen ostendunt et magna multitudine circumfusa morari atque iter impedire incipiunt.
64. At early dawn it was observed from the higher ground adjacent to Caesar’s camp that the enemy’s rear was being hard pressed by the attack of our cavalry, and that sometimes the end of the column was being held up and even being cut off from the rest, while at other times their colours were pushed forward and our men were driven back by a charge of the cohorts in a body, and then again wheeled round and pursued the foe. And now throughout the camp the men gathered in groups, indignantly complaining that the enemy were being let slip from their hands, and that the war was being needlessly protracted to an undue length. They went to the centurions and military tribunes, and besought them to assure Caesar that he was not to shrink from exposing them to labour or peril. “We are ready,” they said; “we can and we dare cross the river by the way the cavalry passed over.” Caesar, urged by their zeal and their clamour, though he feared to expose his army to such a strength of current, nevertheless decides that he must attempt the experiment. So he orders the weaker men, whose spirit or strength seemed unequal to the effort, to be set aside from all the centuries. These he leaves with one legion to guard the camp. The rest of the legions he leads out lightly equipped, and after placing a great number of pack-horses in the river above and below leads across his force. A few of these men were carried away by the strength of the current, but were caught and supported by the horsemen; not one, however, was lost. When his army had been led across without loss, he draws up his forces and proceeds to lead his battle in three lines. And there was such zeal in the soldiery that, though a circuit of six miles was added to their route and a long delay was interposed at the ford, they overtook by the ninth hour of the day those who had gone out at the third watch.
64. Prima luce ex superioribus locis, quae Caesaris castris erant coniuncta, cernebatur equitatus nostri proelio novissimos illorum premi vehementer ac nonnunquam sustineri extremum agmen atque interrumpi, alias inferri signa et universarum cohortium impetu nostros propelli, dein rursus conversos insequi. Totis vero castris milites circulari et dolere hostem ex manibus dimitti, bellum non necessario longius duci; centuriones tribunosque militum adire atque obsecrare, ut per eos Caesar certior fieret, ne labori suo neu periculo parceret; paratos esse sese, posse et audere ea transire flumen, qua traductus esset equitatus. Quorum studio et vocibus excitatus Caesar, etsi timebat tantae magnitudini fluminis exercitum obicere, conandum tamen atque experiendum iudicat. Itaque infirmiores milites ex omnibus centuriis deligi iubet, quorum aut animus aut vires videbantur sustinere non posse. Hos cum legione una praesidio castris relinquit; reliquas legiones expeditas educit magnoque numero iumentorum in flumine supra atque infra constituto traducit exercitum. Pauci ex his militibus abrepti vi fluminis abi equitatu excipiuntur ac sublevantur; interit tamen nemo. Traducto incolumi exercitu copias instruit! triplicemque aciem ducere incipit. Ac tantum fuit in militibus studii, ut milium sex ad iter addito circuitu magnaque ad vadum fluminis mora interposita eos, qui de tertia vigilia exissent, ante horam diei VIIII consequerentur.
65. And when Afranius with Petreius beheld these troops, whom he caught sight of from a distance, he was dismayed by an event so startling, and halting on higher ground drew up his line. Caesar re-forms his army on the plains that he may not expose it to battle exhausted with fatigue. When they again attempt to advance he follows and checks them. The foe of necessity pitch their camp earlier than they had intended, for the hills were close by and difficult and narrow routes awaited them only five miles off. These hills they were eager to penetrate in order to escape Caesar’s cavalry and, by placing outposts in the defiles, to stop the march of his army, and themselves to conduct their forces across the Ebro without danger and alarm. This they should have attempted and carried out by every possible means, but worn out by a whole day’s fighting and the toil of their march, they postponed the business till the next day. Caesar also pitches camp on the nearest hill.
65. Quos ubi Afranius procul visos cum Petreio conspexit, nova re perterritus locis superioribus constitit aciemque instruit. Caesar in campis exercitum reficit, ne defessum proelio obiciat; rursus conantes progredi insequitur et moratur. Illi necessario maturius, quam constituerant, castra ponunt. Suberant enim montes, atque a milibus passuum V itinera difficilia atque angusta excipiebant. Hos montes intrasse cupiebant, ut equitatum effugerent Caesaris praesidiisque in angustiis collocatis exercitum itinere prohiberent, ipsi sine periculo ac timore Hiberum copias traducerent. Quod fuit illis conandum atque omni ratione efficiendum; sed totius diei pugna i atque itineris labore defessi rem in posterum diem distulerunt. Caesar quoque in proximo colle castra ponit.
66. About midnight, when some men who had gone some distance from their camp to fetch water were seized by his horsemen, Caesar is informed by them that the officers of the enemy are silently leading their forces out of camp. Having learnt this, he bids the signal be given and the usual military order for striking camp to be proclaimed. The foe, having caught the sound of the proclamation, fearing lest, impeded and over-burdened, they should be compelled to engage by night, or lest they should be held up by Caesar’s cavalry in the defiles, stop their march and keep their forces in camp. Next day Petreius sets forth secretly with a few horsemen to explore the district. The same thing is done from Caesar’s camp. L. Decidius Saxa is sent with a few men to reconnoitre the character of the place. Each brings back the same message to his people: that nearest them there lie five miles of level route, then follows rugged and hilly ground, that there is no difficulty in the enemy being stopped by whosoever first occupies these defiles.
66. Media circiter nocte eis, qui aquandi causa I longius a castris processerant, ab equitibus correptis fit ab his certior Caesar duces adversariorum I silentio copias castris educere. Quo cognito signum I dari iubet et vasa militari more conclamari. Illi exaudito clamore veriti, ne noctu impediti sub onere I confligere cogerentur aut ne ab equitatu Caesaris in I angustiis tenerentur, iter supprimunt copiasque in I castris continent. Postero die Petreius cum paucis equitibus occulte ad exploranda loca proficiscitur. Hoc idem fit ex castris Caesaris. Mittitur L. Decidius Saxa cum paucis, qui loci naturam perspiciat. Uterque idem suis renuntiat: V milia passuum proxima intercedere itineris campestris, inde excipere loca aspera et montuosa; qui prior has angustias occupaverit, ab hoc hostem prohiberi nihil esse negotii.